Apparatus for filling bottles or other vessels with liquids.



PATENTED OCT. 11, 1904.

F. J. FLETCHER. APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS WITH'LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1902.

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WIINAOI 772,033. PATBNTED OCT. 11 19-04. z 1-". J. FLETGHER.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS WITH LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25. 1902.

N0 MODEL. I 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED OUT. 11, 1904.

F. J. FLETCHER. APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS WITH LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1902-.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED STATES Patented October 11, 1904:.

PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS WITH LIQUIDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,033, dated October 11, 1904. Application filed August 25, 1902. Serial No. 120,987. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS JAMES FLETCH- ER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 11 Filey avenue,Upper Clapton, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in and Connected with Apparatus for Filling Bottles or other Vessels with Liquid, of which the following is a specification.

5 This invention relates to impovements in and connected with apparatus for filling bottles or other vessels with aerated or carbonated or other liquids.

According to the invention I provide a disk or the like which is furnished with a number I of devices of ordinary construction for filling different kinds of bottles or vessels, the said disk being formed with passages in connection with each of the devices and these passages being also in communication with a passage in an upright shaft, to the top of which the disk is attached. This shaft is rotatably mounted in a column or the like, and the lower end of the passage in the same is in connection with a pipe communicating with an aerating-chamber of any suitable construction or other liquid-supply.

To the column in which the shaft is adapted to be turned I fit an adjustable bracket carrying a holder for receiving the bottles or other vessels to be filled, a spring being provided in the bracket for normally pressing the said support upward to hold the bottle or other vessel tightly against the filling-nozzle. To lower the support or holder for enabling the bottle or other vessel to be placed in position thereon, I make use of a cam mounted upon a spindle adapted to be rotated by hand or by other suitable means, which said cam in its rotation bears against a tappet or the like upon the lower end of the support or holder.

For enabling the liquids charged into the bottles or other vessels to be syruped or fiavored 1 make use of the ordinary cylinder and plunger device; but I arrange the said device in such a manner that it can be operated from the aforesaid cam-spindle, which for this purpose is provided with a crank-disk, so as to reciprocate the plunger of the syruping device.

The upright spindle carrying the charging- -disk is, as above mentioned, rotatably mounted in the standard or column, suitable packing being provided to make a tight joint. To hold the disk in the different positions for enabling any one of the filling devices to be employed, I make use of a suitable locking arrangement, such as a spring-bolt, provided in the column, the said bolt being adapted to engage with any one of a number of peripheral holes formed in the shaft turning therein.

To enable the quantity of syrup delivered to be varied to suit requirements, I make provision whereby the stroke of the plunger of the syruping device can be suitably adjusted.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of apparatus made according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view shown at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus, and Fig. 4: is a sectional view of a detail drawn to an enlarged scale and hereinafter described.

a is the disk or the like, which is shown provided with four filling and stoppering devices b 0 d 6. These arrangements are of ordinary construction, the arrangement I) being adapted forfilling internally-stoppered bottles; 0, for filling vessels stoppered by corks; (Z, for siphon-bottles, and e for screw-stoppered bottles.

f is the upright spindle, upon which the disk (0 is mounted, the said spindle being provided with a central passage 9 in communication with each of the filling arrangements by means of a passage h in the disk a.

o' is the column or standard, in the upper end of which the shaft f is rotatably'mounted, a tight joint being secured by means of the stuffing-box j is the spring locking pin, which is provided in the column d, the said locking-pin being adapted toengage with anyone of a number of holes j formed in the periphery of the lower part of the spindle f, so as to lock the disk at in the different positions required for filling the different types of hottles or other vesselsthat is to say, for bringing the different filling-nozzles above the bottle holder or support, hereinafter described.

is the bracket, which is adjustably fitted upon the column Z, and Z is the bottle support or holder, which is held in the said bracket 7:, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The under side of this holder Z is provided with'a downwardly-extending shank Z, which passes through the lower end of the bracket 71;, and the said holder Z is normally held in its uppermost position, so as to clamp the mouth of the bottle or the like tightly against the filling-nozzle by means of the spring m, which is arranged inside the bracket lo and bears at its upper end against the under side of the support Z and at its lower end against the bottom of the said bracket it. To enable the support Z to be depressed to enable a bottle or other vessel to be placed in position for filling, the shank Z is fitted with a tappet or the like Z with which engages a cam a, keyed upon a shaft a, rotatably mounted in the column c' and adapted to be rotated by the hand-wheel 0.

represents the liquid-supply vessel, in this case aerating apparatus of suitable construction, and p is the discharge-pipe from the said vessel, which passes up through the column Z and into the lower end of the passage g in the spindle f.

q is the cylinder of the syruping or flavoring apparatus, and q is the piston thereof, the said piston being adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinder, so as to force the necessary quantity of flavoring-syrup into the filling-nozzle by means of the crank-disk '2', keyed upon the aforesaid shaft 12.. To enable the stroke of the piston q to be varied so as to adjust the quantity of syrup ejected from the cylinder q into the filling-nozzle, the piston-rod s of the said piston q is slotted, as shown at s, and telescopes in the rod 2/, which is reciprocated by the crank-disk r. The said rod t is provided with a number of holes 6 Z, into any one of which a stud a can be inserted, so as to limit the stroke of the piston g. This arrangement is shown clearly in Fig. i, and when the stud u is in the hole shown in the said figure the stroke of the piston Q is the full stroke. WVhen the stud u is inserted in the intermediate holes t, there is a certain amount of lost movement, and when it is inserted in the uppermost holes t there is a greater amount of lost movement, and it will be understood that by providing a sufficient number of these holes 2," the stroke of the piston can be varied within any required limits.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings the shaft '22, also operates the aerating device through the medium of the crank-disk 1 as the plunger or rod t also forms the rod of the pumping device for introducing liquid into the said aerator.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The disk a being turned into the position to bring the proper filling-nozzle over the holder Z, the said holder is depressed by turning the hand-wheel 0, so as to allow the bottle to be placed in position thereon, the further rotation of the said hand-wheel allowing the spring on to force the holder upward and bring the mouth of the bottle or the like tightly onto the filling-nozzle. The rotation of the said hand-wheel also operates the aerating apparatus, whereby the aeration of the liquid contained in the aerator is always maintained at the requisite degree, and the syruping apparatus, so that the liquid which is forced up the pipe p by the pressure inside the aerator into the filling-nozzle is flavored by the syrup,which is simultaneously ejected from the syruping device through the passage o, Figs. 1 and 2.

Although in the drawings I have shown the syruping device in connection with only one of the filling devices, it will be clear that the said device can be in connection with the other filling devices, if required.

Each of the filling arrangements is provided with a cock for controlling the flow of the aerated liquid through the same.

An important feature of my invention is that a person-say a retail dealercan fill liquid into different types of bottles (siphons, screw-stoppered bottles, corked and other internally-stoppered bottles) by means of the same machine.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In apparatus for filling bottles or other vessels with liquids the combination of a disk or head carrying a number of filling devices, of a hollow shaft upon which the said disk is mounted, of passages provided in the disk connecting the hollow shaft with each of the filling devices, of a column in which the shaft is rotatably mounted, of a support for the bottles or other vessels, of means for locking the rotatable shaft in position for enabling any one of the filling-nozzles to be employed, of a syruping device and of a common shaft for operating the bottle-support and the syruping device, substantially as hereinbefore described.

2. In apparatus for filling bottles or other vessels with liquids the combination of a disk or head carrying a number of filling devices, of a hollow shaft upon which the said disk is mounted, of passages provided in the disk connecting the hollow shaft with each of the filling devices, of a column in which the shaft is rotatably mounted, of a support for the bottles or other vessels, of means for locking the rotatable shaft in position for enabling any one of the filling-nozzles to be employed, of a syruping device, of a common shaft for operating the bottle-support and the syruping device, and of means for adjusting the stroke of the piston of the syruping device substantially as described. a

3. Apparatus for filling bottles or other vessels with liquids comprising a disk or head 5 carrying a number of filling devices, a hollow shaft on Which the disk is mounted, a column in which the shaft is rotatably held, an adjustable bottle-holder, a syruping devicevand an aerator, a discharge-pipe from the aerator in connection with the hollow shaft and a com- 10 mon shaft for operating the bottle-support, syruping device and aerator, substantially as described and illustrated.

FRANCIS JAMES FLETCHER.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. BOUSFIELD, O. G. REDFERN. 

